Brentford 1-3 Leicester: Foxes set up all-Premier League tie in FA Cup fifth round
Think of Leicester and the first images to spring to mind are of Jamie Vardy scoring, James Maddison creating and Kasper Schmeichel dominating his goal.
Yet their best player this season is rapidly proving himself to be one of the smartest transfer deals in Premier League history.
As he has been for most of the season, Youri Tielemans was imperious in midfield for Brendan Rodgers’ side as they turned a sticky situation at half-time into convincing victory over Brentford to set up an FA Cup fifth-round tie with Brighton.
Leicester marched into FA Cup fifth round with a second-half display to despatch Brentford
Youri Tielemans’ penalty put Leicester ahead after Cengiz Under equalised for the Foxes
James Maddison scored the third with 19 minutes remaining to continue his hot-streak
Without the injured Vardy, who will be out for about two weeks after a hernia operation over the weekend, Leicester were trailing at half-time to Mads Bech Sorensen’s scrambled effort in the seventh minute.
Yet Cengiz Under equalised within a minute of the restart before Tielemans converted a penalty and James Maddison sealed the win with 20 minutes left.
Leicester’s recruitment has been rightly praised in recent years and at £32million from Monaco in summer 2019, record signing Tielemans might be the best of the lot.
The Belgian was captain for the day with Schmeichel rested and organised those around him here, showing class and character to drag Leicester back into the match.
This was the 23-year-old’s 26th appearance of the season yet he looked so fresh and energetic that it might as well have been his first.
The Foxes were trailing at the break to Mads Bech Sorensen’s seventh-minute opener
Cengiz Under levelled within a minute of the restart after good work from James Maddison
He is now one of the best midfielders in the top flight and if Tielemans were ever to leave Leicester, they could probably command nearly three times what they paid for him.
‘I trust all the players and we are trying to build that sort of strong squad,’ said Rodgers. ‘We are a very hungry team. In the second half we were exceptional – our quality was very high.’
Yet Rodgers’ focus, and that of his players, will be on what is shaping up to be another exciting season. They are third in the league, in the last 32 of the Europa League and will fancy their chances of despatching Brighton at home to move into the quarter-finals of this competition.
The wintry weather forced ground staff to use leaf blowers to clear snow from the pitch and Leicester – making eight changes – were caught cold early on.
Marcus Forss nipped in front of Daniel Amartey at the near post to flick on Vitaly Janelt’s corner. The ball looped up off Nampalys Mendy and allowed Sorensen to prod the ball goalwards, where Danny Ward – in for Schmeichel – could only palm it into the net.
Leicester will now face an all-Premier League tie against Brighton in the FA Cup fifth round
Leicester had most of the ball but at this stage they were struggling to do a great deal with it. By contrast, Brentford looked dangerous whenever they moved forward, with Leicester especially shaky when defending set pieces. First-choice duo Wesley Fofana and Jonny Evans were left on the bench and back-up pair Amartey – in particular – and Caglar Soyuncu struggled.
In the 35th minute, Ward made a fine save to deny Tariqe Fosu, who was unmarked at the far post when Janelt’s corner reached him. Then a minute before half-time, the Wales international did even better to stop Saman Ghoddos’ free-kick from the edge of the box finding the top corner.
If Leicester were below par in the first half, in the second they were ferocious. They were soon on terms as Soyuncu dispossessed Ghoddos on halfway and when the ball broke to Maddison, he did superbly to hold off Sorensen and Jan Zamburek before feeding Under to his right. The Turk’s left foot did the rest from 15 yards.
Ayoze Perez twice went close before Leicester took the lead in the 51st minute. Tielemans was tripped by Fosu and with Vardy absent, he stepped up to send Luke Daniels the wrong way from the penalty spot.
Apart from one long throw into their box that forced the returning Ricardo Pereira into a fine block, Leicester were dominant and struck the decisive blow in the 71st minute. Under found Harvey Barnes with a crossfield ball and his fellow winger charged into the box, where Daniels could only push his shot into the path of Maddison, who crowned another excellent display with his fourth goal in as many matches.
‘We delivered a decent performance especially in the first half and then it was a soft penalty but we lost the match fair and square,’ said Bees boss Thomas Frank. ‘It was a bit of magic from Maddison for the equaliser – what a player.’
Relive Sportsmail’s Ieuan Ivett’s live FA Cup coverage ofBrentford vs Leicester including score, lineups and build-up.
